The present invention relates to machines for marking garments for subsequent operations, such as button attachment and buttonhole formation, and, more particularly, to such a machine which marks the garment for buttons and buttonholes simultaneously and speedily in one operation.
It will be understood that while the disclosure of the present invention is in terms of marking machines for garments, and particularly for marking the locations of buttons and buttonholes on garments, the principles of the present invention are equally applicable to the marking of garments for other features, such as pockets, whether using all or only some of the markers. The term "garments" is used expansively herein and includes articles which are not intended for wear on humans, such as wall drapes, furniture covers, parachutes, and any other articles where marking thereon may be desired to indicate the location of future operations thereon.
In the production of garments, there is a frequent need for marking where buttons, buttonholes, pockets, etc., will subsequently be located. The marks are typically made by various media (e.g., chalks, crayons, and inks) which are fluorescent, so that they are not easily visible except when viewed under black (ultraviolet) light, or are easily evaporated, so that they disappear when the garment is hot pressed, or have a limited visible life, so that they disappear shortly after application.
When marking for buttons and buttonholes, it is advantageous to simultaneously mark both by holding the garment edges aligned and in juxtaposition. Simultaneous marking is especially desirable for "stretch" knitted fabrics in order to maintain an accurate registry of the buttons and the buttonholes.
Indicative of the state of the art with respect to machines for making such markings are U.S. Pat. Nos. 2,572,682 and 3,331,135. Essentially, these machines include a fixed frame on which are mounted an assembly of upper markers and an assembly of lower transfer markers, the upper marker assembly being positioned on vertical guide rods to enable strictly linear translational motion of the upper marker assembly upwardly and downwardly. The upper marker assembly moves downwardly into contact with the garment in response to actuation of a foot treadle by the operator. Springs are typically provided on the guide rods in order to return the upper marker assembly to its raised home position after marking of a garment. The garment is supported during marking between the upper and lower marker assemblies on a platen, the platen being slotted so that the lower transfer markers extend therethrough. The upper marker assembly holds marking media (e.g., crayons) which are revolved during marking alternately clockwise and counterclockwise through angles of about 120.degree.-180. The alternate action prevents the bunching of the fabric that would occur with continued rotation in one direction. (It is necessary for the media to have rubbing action against the fabric in order to mark it quickly and clearly.) The upper markers are spring loaded so that uneven wear of the marking media is compensated for by extra travel of the upper marker assembly and the retraction of those markers that have less wear. The lower transfer markers do not contain any marking media, but are merely small textured plugs that undergo the same oscillatory rotary motion as the upper markers, but do not retract. Although both the upper and lower markers have oscillatory rotary motion, at any instant they rotate in opposite directions so as to further cancel any bunching effects on the garment.
In use, the operator first loads the lower transfer markers with marking media from the upper markers by actuating a foot treadle without a garment in place, the foot treadle causing the marking media of the upper marker assembly to contact the textured tops of the lower transfer markers. The operator then releases the treadle, inserts the garment in position on the platen between the assemblies, and depresses the foot treadle again to cause the upper markers to contact the garment and press it against the now media-loaded lower transfer markers. Thus, each garment requires two separate foot treadle actions on the part of the operator, with the concomitant loss of productivity and increase in operator fatigue. It will be appreciated that the operator controls the time duration of contact between the markers and the garment, this time desirably being based upon garment material, texture, color and the like, and therefore varying with each individual job.
The present marking machines have not proven to be entirely satisfactory in use. Because of the strictly vertical translational displacement of the upper marker assembly, the marking machines tend to be bulky and high in order to enable adequate clearance between the upper and lower markers during insertion and removal of garments. Because of the guide rods at each end of the marking machine, the garment must be inserted from the front or rear of the machine (that is, perpendicular to its long axis) and end-loading is precluded, although end-loading would facilitate the marking of long items (such as curtains and draperies), the marking off of rolls of material, and the like. The design of a marking machine along strictly vertical displacement principles further interferes with the full visibility of the garment to the operator because the upper marker assembly may be in his line of vision while the garment is being inserted into the machine.
Because the lower marking plate and the platen are both stationary, with the tops of the lower transfer markers extending upwardly through a slot in the platen, the garment tends to come into contact with the loaded lower transfer markers during the operation of inserting the garment into the marking machine, thereby producing unintended, extraneous and possibly misleading markings on the garment by the lower transfer markers.
The main problems exemplified by the known marking machines relate, however, to their low production rate, short marking media life, and poor quality of the marks produced. Because the marking media (typically crayons) are disposed only on the upper markers, the marking machine must be cycled twice in order to produce the desired set of marks--that is, it must be cycled once without the garment present to cause the marking media from the upper markers to load the lower transfer markers, and a second time with the garment in it to cause marking of the garment directly by the marking media from the upper markers and by the now loaded lower transfer markers. Thus, the machine is in productive use only 50% of the time, with the remainder of the time being spent loading the lower markers with marking media. The short life of the marking media in the marking machine is but another reflection of this problem, with the marking media having to be replaced in the upper markers twice as often as would be the case if the lower markers had an independent media marking supply. Thus, the frequency of loading new crayons or similar marking media in the upper markers is twice as high as would be the case if the upper markers were used only to mark the garment directly.
A further problem with the use of lower transfer markers which must be loaded with the marking media is that the plug portion of the lower transfer marker which receives the marking media from the upper marker and subsequently transfers it to the garment must represent a design "trade-off" between the texture that readily accepts the marking media from the upper marker and one that will readily transfer it to the garment. Accordingly, the marks produced by the upper markers and the lower transfer markers are often less clear than desirable, especially the marks produced by the lower transfer markers.
Use of the foot treadle to close the marking plates twice per garment (once to load the lower markers with marking media, and once to mark the garment) requires substantial operator energy, leading to fatigue and variations in operator performance. The problem is further complicated by the dependence of the marking operation upon the individual marking machine operator, the marking machine operator himself varying over time, and differing from other marking machine operators. The extent to which the foot treadle is depressed, and the force used in doing so, may vary with a resultant variation in the degree of contact between the markers and the garment, the duration of the contact, and the force of the contact.
Accordingly, it is an object of the present invention to provide a marking machine having about twice the production rate and about twice the marking media life of a conventional marking machine.
Another object is to provide such a marking machine which produces high quality marks with a minimum of effort by the operator of the machine and without unduly tiring the operator.
A further object is to provide such a machine which enables end-loading of the garment and a substantially clearer view of the garment to the operator during the insertion operation.
It is also an object of the present invention to provide such a machine which avoids the unintended marking of the garment by the lower markers during the garment insertion and removal operations.
It is another object to provide such a machine which is of economical and rugged construction, easy to maintain and simple to use.